The Crimson Campanile

The rest of the buildings on the plains in this area are low, a few stories at most, so the tower jutting up from the landscape is visible from miles away. Its presence is always known, like an illwish on your back.

Purpose / Function

This building was the prison tower of Lord Ridgar the Ripper.

Architecture

An imposing structure of approximately 120 feet tall, it is made of a soft white stone that has been stained red. An ornate bell stands on top, though it is cracked now.

History

Lord Ridgar was quite mad, and decided his people were conspiring against him. He gathered them to him, and locked them in his tower, the seat of his power. He trapped them all in the prison, and began to torture them, determined to find out their plot. Every man, woman, child was put to his knife. Their blood ran down the stones, slowly dying the entire tower the dark crimson it is now, and the bell at top rang with each death. Still his paranoia was not satisfied, and he ran through the town, searching and destroying each and every home, until at last there was nothing left. Nothing of the town remains now, except the tower.

Mythology of the Campanile

Because of its sordid history, the Campanile is subject to many legends. The most popular is that the bell rings when blood will be spilled in anger the next night, though doubters maintain it is the wind.
Others claim that Ridgar will return if someone is murdered upon the soil surrounding the tower, and will finish his bloody quest.
Teens will sometimes dare each other to get close to the tower, and a few courageous youths have even entered it.
Ridgar was known to be extremely wealthy, and some claim if you can bypass the mad workings of his mind, you can find his treasure.

RUINED STRUCTURE
700 ATD

Alternative Names

Ridgar's Tower, The Bloody Belfry

Type

Prison